In Memoriam
by Peach Wookiee
Summary: After Apple Bloom endures a rather cruel taunt, Applejack tells her sister of how they lost their parents. A one-shot and the author's very first My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic story.


In Memoriam

_Hello, everypony! This is my very first _My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic _fiction and the first fic I've written in a while. Some of you are probably wondering, given the list of stories I've already written, why I would write for this fandom. The answer is simple; I am a fan and would love to contribute a story. My contribution is a story about what happened to the parents of the wielder of the Element of Honesty. Applejack and her brother and sister have been raised by Granny Smith, but why is it that way? According to Lauren Faust, the Apples' story is "too sad for a kids' show." Based on that, I picture a story much like so many Disney movies. And so I give you "In Memoriam."_

_**Disclaimer:**_**My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic**_ is the property of Lauren Faust and the Hasbro Corporation. I just watch the show by myself and with my nieces and make fan art. Thank you for your attention, and please don't sue. I'm not worth it._

_**Author's notes:**__ The term foal, while used incorrectly in real life, seems to be used to describe really young ponies in the world of Equestria. I am therefore using it as a gender-neutral term for young ponies. I have written the Apple family accent as close to the show as I can, which means their language will not follow the guidelines of properly written English. Further, some of the events in this story precede the events described in "The Cutie Mark Chronicles." Finally, I fully expect Lauren Faust, Meghan McCarthy or some of the other MLP: FIM writers to "Joss" me at some point regarding AJ's parents._

A loud slam and a sob made Applejack look up from the warm cider she shared with Granny Smith one cool afternoon in Sweet Apple Acres' cozy kitchen. "What in tarnation…?" the orange pony muttered, glancing at her grandmother from across the scrubbed wood table. "Granny Smith… was that Apple Bloom?"

The old mare shifted in her chair. "Well, it's a little early, but if Half-Pint was runnin' fast from school, that just might be her. Applejack, could you go up and see…?"

"Already on it, Granny," Applejack answered, hooves quickly touching the floor. Her ears twitched as soft sobbing noises reached her from upstairs. She trotted up the stairs, being quieter than Rarity would have thought her capable. And then her hoof rapped gently but firmly on Apple Bloom's bedroom door. When the filly didn't answer, her sister called, "Apple Bloom, it's Applejack."

"Go 'way!" came the response. "Not like you can help me…." Applejack blinked at the pain that radiated from the second statement, though it was much softer than the shout.

"Apple Bloom… sis, let me in, please. I want to know what's goin' on," Applejack pleaded through the door.

"O-okay, sis…." When the older pony entered, she saw her sister lying on her bed, eyes red-rimmed. Apple Bloom managed a smile for one moment before it turned upside down. "Hey, Applejack…"

"Hey, sugar cube…." The older pony came close and sat down next to her sister's bed, reaching out a hoof to stroke the filly's mane. "Want to talk about it? Somethin' tells me this ain't about you bein' a blank flank."

Apple Bloom's orange-golden eyes met her sister's green ones. "Not this time. But it was Diamond Tiara; just her this time. She got mad at me for showin' her up in math class…." Tears came down the filly's face again; clearly, this was more than a simple taunt. Applejack waited. "And when we were steppin' out, she told me… Mama left because she didn't love me and Daddy ran away."

For a moment, Applejack removed her hoof from her sister's head. Apple Bloom looked up and saw something in her sister's face that would make most fillies wet themselves. "Uh… Applejack?"

The older pony was silently counting back in her head. _10…9…8…_ She counted down to one and took a breath. Once more, she brushed her sister's mane. "Sorry, sugar cube, but that just made me mad. That little… filly… don't know nothin' about Mama and Daddy. I guess Granny Smith, Big Mac and I should've told you sooner, but it was hard for us. It's not goin' to be easy for you to hear all of it, but you need the truth."

Apple Bloom held her sister's gaze. "I want to know, Applejack. I want to know about Mama and Daddy. Why aren't they here?"

Applejack, as tough as she was, fought tears. "They're both dead, Apple Bloom. But I think you figured that out."

"Yeah, but how did it all happen?"

Again, Applejack steadied herself. _Be honest with her…._

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"AJ!" A strong voice, not unlike Big McIntosh as a young adult called across the farm to little Applejack. "Come here, little darlin'!"

"Comin', Daddy," she called to Jazz Apple, her father. She loved how strong and dependable he was and how he was always eager to help the ponies of Ponyville. She trotted across the field to him where he was teaching Big McIntosh to applebuck the earliest apples that grow in Equestria. "What is it, Daddy?" she asked.

"AJ, can you carry this basket to Mama for me? She ain't feelin' well these days," he said, reaching out a red hoof to ruffle her mane.

The filly took the basket in her mouth and trotted to the farmhouse. She twitched her ears to the sounds of powerful hooves against the tree trunks and smiled. _Someday, I reckon I'll get to do more of that! Right now, got to help Mama!_ "Mama?"

"In here, sugar cube," Cameo Apple called from the couch in the living room. Her face was lightly tinged green in contrast to her orange coat and strawberry blonde mane. "I guess I ain't feelin' so good today."

"Mama, you ain't felt good for more 'n a month. Ain't you going to see Doc Tenderhoof?" the little filly asked, setting down the basket of apples on the snack table. "And Daddy sent in these apples if you can eat 'em."

"Thanks, Applejack. Sit with me for a while," Cameo said, patting an open spot on the couch with her hoof. Applejack climbed up onto the couch, cuddling next to her mother. "I think I know what's goin' on, honey. I just don't want to tell your father yet. I think I'm expectin' another foal…."

Applejack's eyes widened. "Really, Mama? Why ain't you told Daddy? Why'd you tell me first?"

Cameo's golden eyes crinkled a little. "I was waitin' for the end of this harvest. And it's nice to have a little secret between us fillies and mares."

"Oh, like Daddy and Big Mac keep their secrets, right, Mama? But you know I can't lie well…."

Cameo brushed her daughter's golden mane with a gentle front hoof. "You don't have to lie; you just tell them that Mama has somethin' she wants to tell and it's a surprise and that she made you promise that you can't tell, okay?"

"Okay, Mama. Now, how about one of these Winesaps?" And so the little filly and her mother ate their snack of freshly picked apples, the pounding of hooves outside the only thing disturbing the quiet living room.

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"So Mama was pregnant with me? Was Daddy happy?" Apple Bloom asked, her golden eyes blazing with excitement. And then her face fell at the sight of Applejack. The older pony was wiping at her face a bit.

"Daddy… Daddy never knew," Applejack murmured, pulling her sister close. "Y'see, that night… that night, there was a terrible storm. There was an accident involvin' the Cloudsdale weather machine…."

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The wind raged. There was no other way that Applejack could describe it. It was as if the four winds of Equestria had suddenly gotten into a terrible fight and were raging at each other, tearing the very sky apart with their wrath. She stood out in Ponyville's town square, the gale threatening to tear her rain slicker and rain hat right off of her. "Daddy, what can I do?" she shouted over the storm.

Jazz looked over at her from the branches he was gathering up. "AJ, help me by gatherin' up the twigs! They can really hurt somepony!"

The little filly tore around getting as many twigs gathered up as she could. Other able-bodied ponies were doing the same, clearing the town of debris that could fly up and cause damage. And then she heard the shouts of pegasi above them. "_**We can't hold it back!**_" The storm had been a result of a weather machine malfunction in Cloudsdale and the clouds from said accident mingling with the unpredictable clouds of the Everfree Forest. And now the storm was slipping beyond containment. Applejack followed her father, racing to get whatever she could out of the way before the worst of the storm hit Ponyville and its outskirts.

And then a high-pitched wail stopped Applejack in her tracks. She looked up, expecting to see a filly or colt in an upper-story window that was terrified by the storm. But what greeted her eyes was a small figure falling from Cloudsdale, a young pink Pegasus pony. Jazz broke into a run. "AJ, _**stay put!**_" he shouted, racing toward a large tree.

Pegasi were launching themselves from Cloudsdale, but the winds buffeted them away from the falling foal. The small Pegasus plummeted toward the ground, but miraculously landed in a tree. The foal was crying out in pain and Applejack saw her father run toward the large tree. "_**Hang in there, sugar cube, I'm comin'**_!" he shouted as loudly as he could. Applejack saw him disappear over a hill and then saw his lasso come out to snatch the foal safely from the tree. The filly breathed a sigh of relief; her father was a hero.

And then she saw it; a horribly bright flash. And she heard it; a loud crack and screams. The little Pegasus hadn't stopped screaming in all that time, but in the storm, Applejack hadn't heard anything other than the shouts of weather ponies, the rescue crews on the ground and that foal. But now, the screams were different. "_**Get a medic pony!**_"

Applejack blinked away the brightness from the lightning strike and ran toward the shouts. "_**Daddy! Where are ya?"**_ she called out. The little foal was the first thing she saw, a filly, and the filly was sobbing. Applejack could see that her left wing was broken and that she had some cuts and bruises, but was otherwise unharmed. Medic ponies were treating her, but others were swarming around the large tree she'd been trapped in. Applejack felt her throat tighten. "Daddy?" she called out again.

And then one of the medic ponies came up to her, trying to block her vision. "Miss? We have a situation here…"

"Is my daddy here? Is he hurt? His name's Jazz Apple, and I'm his daughter, Applejack! Where is he?" she demanded, pushing past the medic stallion. She could see five or six other medical ponies, a tangle of tree branches and… _Oh, sweet Celestia, no!_ The world began to spin, but not before the sight of a red hoof and foreleg, bent at odd angles, registered with her vision. When she was next aware of things, she was on the couch at Sweet Apple Acres, Granny Smith removing a cold compress from her forehead. There were no sounds of a storm outside. _Maybe I've been sick and dreamed the whole thing!_

"Your mama's in bed, Half Pint," the old mare soothed when she saw her granddaughter was awake. "Big Mac is sittin' with her."

"Granny, where's Daddy? He ain't…!"

Granny Smith nuzzled Applejack gently, tears in her golden eyes. "I'm sorry, Applejack."

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Apple Bloom watched the muscles in her sister's throat move and her green eyes spill over. She got off of her bed and moved to hug Applejack tightly. She didn't know what more she could do other than make gently soothing noises like her sister, brother and grandmother had done for her. It was a long moment before Applejack could speak again.

"Daddy died savin' that little filly," she said finally. "And Mama couldn't believe it had happened. For a few days after, she was in bed talking to Daddy's side of the blankets like he was still there. And then we had to take her to the funeral. She accepted it and was sad Daddy never knew about you. But after a little while, she started makin' baby clothes and gettin' your nursery ready. She was ready for you five months before you came which was probably good. Four months before you came, Apple Bloom, Mama was ordered to take it easy and then I went to Manehatten. Mama said she wanted me to get my cutie mark and when I came home and had it, she was so happy."

"She was?" Apple Bloom asked, her face lighting up.

"Yup," Applejack answered, her own face lighting as well. "She said she had a daughter with a cutie mark, a boy who was gettin' strong and a foal on the way. And she'd asked the doctor to tell her what she was havin'. Doctor Tenderhoof used her magic and found that you were a filly. Mama didn't tell me because she didn't want me to hold back on findin' out who I was meant to be. She said she wanted to see me be a strong filly and grow into an even stronger mare."

"So… what happened?" Apple Bloom asked, instinctively hugging her big sister again. She felt the older pony shudder. "Applejack…?"

Applejack hugged back, cursing Diamond Tiara for having been so cruel and herself for not having fought past her pain before this moment. "It's… it's just hard to talk about this for me, sugar cube. I was so happy to come back to Ponyville, have my cutie mark and have a baby sister on the way. We didn't think we'd lose Mama…."

Apple Bloom swallowed. "How…?"

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The sharp, tangy smell of the disinfectant nearly burned Applejack's nostrils as she, Big McIntosh, Granny Smith and a panting Cameo Apple raced through the doors of Ponyville Hospital. "I… forgot how hard it can be birthin' a foal!" Cameo groaned. Applejack had never seen her mother sweat like this. She couldn't quite understand why there was such a rush to get her mother to the hospital; she and Big Mac had been born at home.

"It's going to be all right, Cameo, we're all here, darlin'," Granny Smith soothed. The medic ponies came quickly, one unicorn nurse using a levitation spell to get Cameo onto a gurney.

"Applejack, Big McIntosh!" Cameo called to her foals. They came to her side. "Take care of each other while I'm g-gone! Mama…."

"I'll keep 'em in line," Granny Smith promised her daughter-in-law. Cameo waved a hoof and was gone behind a set of double doors.

An hour later, Doctor Tenderhoof came out to the waiting area. "Granny Smith?"

"Yes, Doctor, how's my Cameo?" the old mare asked, standing up. "And how's my new grand…daughter?" Applejack was standing on one side of her grandmother, while Big McIntosh was on the other. And so they felt, rather than saw their grandmother begin to sink to her knees.

"Doctor?" Applejack asked, seeing how drawn Doctor Tenderhoof's face was. "What happened?"

"Applejack…"

"Please, Doctor, tell us…." And the doctor had explained that there had been a complication in the delivery. The foal, a little filly, had come into the world healthy, but Cameo had slipped away. There had been nothing they could do to save her.

". . . She gave the filly a name before she passed."

"A-Apple Bloom, right?" Granny Smith managed to say as a medic checked her pulse. "Cameo wanted to name her that because she and Jazz always loved the apple bloomin' time." The doctor nodded in confirmation.

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"Mama named me," Apple Bloom said in wonder.

"She did, sugar cube," Applejack murmured, petting her sister's head. "She told me that you were going to be named Apple Bloom because of the blossoms and also because you were a new beginnin'." Sure, it sounded corny, but it was very true. "Mama and Daddy didn't leave us and they certainly would've loved you and the filly you've become. It… it was hard bringin' you home and buryin' Mama too, but we did it and promised we'd all raise you to be a confident, healthy filly. I also promised I'd make sure you knew about Mama and Daddy. I guess I ain't done such a good job with that one…."

Apple Bloom regarded her sister for a moment. Emotions warred within her. Part of her was angry that her sister had never told her the story. Another part ached for her siblings; they had kept this to themselves and kept the hurt to themselves. But at least Applejack had finally told her. The emotions warred for an instant, and one emotion clearly won out.

Later, Applejack would reflect that her sister almost looked at her as Princess Celestia might. "I think you have, Applejack. And it hurt you to talk about it all, right?" When the older pony nodded, the filly continued, "Well, I know you don't talk about stuff rather than try to lie to me, and I'm glad you don't lie to me when you do tell me stuff. And I'm glad you told me about Mama and Daddy, even though it hurt you. Would you tell me more 'bout what you remember?"

"Sure, sugar cube, but what would you say to a basket of Winesaps in the kitchen with Granny Smith while we answer your questions?"

Apple Bloom grinned, feeling much better than when she had run through the kitchen door. The two sisters hugged tightly and went downstairs to share family knowledge and a freshly picked basket of Winesap apples.

**THE END**


End file.
